The Red Blood Cell, Second Edition, Volume II provides a comprehensive treatment and review of basic biomedical knowledge about the circulating, adult red blood cell. This book discusses the transport through red cell membranes; carrier-mediated glucose transport across human red cell membranes; and metabolism of methemoglobin in human erythrocytes. The interaction of oxygen and carbon dioxide with hemoglobin at the molecular level; physiological role of the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve; hemoglobinopathies; and thalassemia syndromes are also deliberated. This publication likewise covers the red cell genetic polymorphisms; biological life of the red cell; clinical indications for red cells and blood; and biophysical behavior of red cells in suspensions. Other topics include the electrokinetic behavior of red cells; erythrocyte as a biopsy tissue in the evaluation of nutritional status; and knowledge of red cell purine and pyrimidine metabolism coming from the study of human disease. This volume is recommended for students, researchers, teachers, and physicians aiming to acquire knowledge of the red blood cell.

The translation of Blood Smears Reinterpreted was begun when the French original was still undergoing revisions. I was accorded the oppor tunity to question any statement or turn of phrase that was unclear to me or appeared liable to misinterpretation. It is my hope that as a result, ambiguities-particularly those inherent in differences between American and Eu ropean usage-have been removed and that I have at least ap proached the ultimate goal of any translation: to reflect the author's intention accurately while remaining as readable as the original. Beyond the role of translator, I was encouraged to assume the role of critic. As a result, some pages or even single sentences were hotly debated, sometimes for hours, as Marcel Bessis insisted that any inter pretations on which we could not agree should be so indicated. In fact our discussion invariably ended in agreement, though they led to changes of a sentence here or a word there and, on occasion, to the addition of a footnote or a brief paragraph.

51 worldwide leading experts in the field of erythrocyte research contributed to this first book on transport processes in red blood cells. It explains the latest findings on the basis of well-established principles, in an accessibly structured and carefully organized compilation.

It is difficult for a teacher to accept the fact that not all of the information in his or her field is a necessary part of the armamentarium of the student. This holds for histologists, and for that matter, pathologists, biochemists, and ophthalmologists. It may especially hold for those who were trained during exciting periods in the history of their discipline. In the past two decades, information in every basic medical science has increased greatly, perhaps exponentially, and the basic science curriculum has been compressed to the point where the medical student can reasonably be expected to acquire only a superficial knowledge of anyone of these sciences. Hence the information provided must be carefully selected, effectively presented in retainable doses, and useful for understanding material to be presented later in the curriculum and for the solution of clinical problems. In the compact courses of today, the presentation of only enough data to support basic working concepts of structure and function is appropriate. Additional factual information consti tutes trivia, which in our opinion interferes with effective development, reten tion, and use of the concepts. This philosophy has been the basis for the preparation of this book. Consistent with this philosophy, the text is brief, and the content has been carefully examined for its appropriateness to the needs of the medical student.

The development of the electron microscope brought one to the other. The purpose of this book is to in a new era, in which cell structures could be provide a bridge, to help those who are familiar visualized down to a macromolecular level. It is of with conventional electron microscopy, to cross course well recognized that some cell components into the less familiar freeze-etching. This has been can be modified or even completely lost during the done by providing paired photographs wherever complex sequence of fixation, dehydration, staining possible, one showing the thin section of a tissue or and plastic embedding which is essential before a a cell, the other a freeze-etch replica of a similar thin section can be obtained. Further, only these cell material. At the same time we have tried to provide components which can be made electron opaque a basis for interpretation of freeze-etched structures, can be visualized. For these reasons, the morpho and we hope the reader will find the first 23 Plates logist and cell biologist alike have to explore alter especially useful in this respect. Because there are native techniques of specimen preparation which many excellent atlases of cell structure available at may avoid some of the artefacts inherent in con the present time, we felt there was no need to ventional thin-section electron microscopy, and at provide lengthy discussions of each plate.